Will coach Troussier give up his ego for the greater good of the Vietnamese team?

Results are the most important

"The players always try their best to aim for not only victory, but also the way to win," coach Philippe Troussier shared before the day he and the Vietnamese team set off to play Indonesia in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers, with the first leg taking place at 8:30 p.m. today (March 21).

The above quote sums up Mr. Troussier's philosophy. It is not only about winning, but also how to win. In 1 year of coaching the Vietnam national team and U.23 team with the same framework, the French coach always adjusted the players' football thinking. The goal is that besides winning, Coach Troussier's teams must also win proactively, win by playing in a prepared way.

HLV Troussier có từ bỏ cái tôi, vì đại cục của đội tuyển Việt Nam?- Ảnh 1. — Pressure on Mr. Troussier's shoulders

He bluntly pointed out that the previous Vietnam team only won by lucky or random situations. "The Vietnam Football Federation recognized the limits of the Vietnam team when they lost up to 8 matches in the 3rd qualifying round of the 2022 World Cup, so they brought me here," coach Troussier emphasized.

However, the French strategist also admitted: balancing results and playing style is not easy. To play according to the control philosophy, the Vietnamese team paid the price with 8 losses in the last 9 matches.

Although it is said that his students were unlucky and "winning is not necessarily good, losing is not necessarily bad", let's be honest: experts, fans, players, and perhaps coach Troussier himself need results more than playing style right now.

Good playing style does not necessarily bring good results, but good results are needed to have confidence in building good playing style. This is a two-way relationship. That contrasts with the fact that for a long time, there has been a feeling that Coach Troussier builds a style of play that is more theoretical than actually playing to win.

HLV Troussier có từ bỏ cái tôi, vì đại cục của đội tuyển Việt Nam?- Ảnh 2. — How has the Vietnam team changed?

The recent defeat against Indonesia is proof. The Vietnamese team controlled the ball 57%, made 484 passes (one and a half times more than their opponents), but the player with the highest score was... goalkeeper Nguyen Filip. Despite passing the ball a lot, Coach Troussier's students did not have a certain direction in playing.

Change is coming, 'White Witch'

To be fair, even if Vietnam lost to Indonesia at Gelora Bung Karno tonight, it would not be a disaster. The players still have 3 matches to make up for their mistakes, including 2 home matches.

However, another defeat could lead to a loss of confidence. Coach Troussier’s words will hardly carry any weight if his players have been learning a new philosophy for a year, but still cannot win. Football is ultimately a matter of winning and losing.

The Vietnamese team should return to a more immediate goal: how to play to achieve good results. The 2-point gap with Indonesia will help coach Troussier and his team dominate the game. While Indonesia must score and win the match (even the opponent's coach Shin Tae-yong said that they must score as many goals as possible), the Vietnamese team only needs a draw.

Leaving the Gelora Bung Karno stadium with at least 1 point is the "ultimate" task of the Vietnamese team. Even if he has to put aside his ego and take over the "legacy" of his predecessor, perhaps coach Troussier must do it. For the greater good, and also to relieve the pressure he is carrying, right on his 69th birthday.

Deciding this match may be a random moment, even simple and small when placed next to "sublime" tactical philosophies. But that's football. It's a story of millions of variables that can happen on the field. Hopefully the lesson from the 2023 Asian Cup will help Mr. Troussier have a more reasonable and worth-watching match.

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